For 96 hours the team repeated one mantra — “We go in the snow.”
The blizzard that crippled the Washington, D.C. region Jan. 22 to 25, 2016 halted business and travel in our area. But for some of our area’s most needy residents — seniors who are home alone — the storm didn’t stop CAREGivers from Home Instead Senior Care in Manassas.
“The first thing we did was line up our cars,” said Gail Earhart, relationships manager at Home Instead. “We have five our fleet, but only two can go in the snow.”
The company rented one car to replace the cars that couldn’t go in the snow, and brought in two large SUVs from a friend. They were used to take CAREGivers to clients homes, and to take them back again.
Despite the 2-feet of snow that fell, Home Instead was able to serve 117 clients, 75% of its customer base for the weekend, to provide in-home care.
“We have customers that called and said ‘look, I’m in New Mexico, my mother is alone, what are you going to do ensure you get there?” said Earhart.
Home Instead matches the right CAREGiver to the right senior who lives at home. They help seniors by cooking, do light cleaning, making sure basic needs are met, and by merely providing them someone to talk to.
Sometimes, especially on weekends, someone may have a friend or loved one who lives in the area who may stop by to sit with the client, and the client may not need Home Instead’s services for that day.
However, the many seniors that Home Instead cares for may not have someone nearby. Especially when two feet of snow falls in the area.
Home Instead employees spent five days at the office during the snowstorm. They blew up mattresses to sleep on the floor, and drove SUVs to pick up CAREGivers, brought them to see their clients, and took them home again.
“At one point, we picked up two to three CAREGivers at a time in Woodbridge and bringing then across the county to care for their clients in Manassas,” said Earhart.
The wheels on the Home Instead SUVs were always turning during the storm.
“We know our clients have to be seen, and we’re going to everything it takes to get them there,” said Earhart.
This paid promotional post was written by Potomac Local in collaboration with Home Instead Senior Care of Manassas, serving Prince William and Fauquier counites.
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